Hot-water heating system.



. EGGLESTON.

HOT WATER HEATING SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. I, 1915.,

Patented May 2,1916.

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THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON, D. I

L. W. EGGLESTON.

HOT WATER HEATING SYSTEM.

APPucATloN FILED APR.1.1915.

' Patented May 2,1916.

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HOT-WATER HEATING SYSTEM.

Application filed April 7, 1915.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, Lnwrs W. EGGLnsToN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vheaton, in the county of Dupage and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in I-Iot-VVater Heating Systems', of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in hot-water heatingsystems, andis fully described and explained in the specification and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a system of the basement feed type embodying my invention; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the mei cury valve which I employ in connection with my system, and Fig. 3 is a view showing my invention as applied to an overhead feed system.

Referring to Fig. 1, l is a hot-water boiler, or heater, of the usual type. The basement feed pipe which receives the hot water from the upper end of the boiler is indicated by 5, and fromy this distributing pipe extend risers, one of which is shown at 6. 7 are the radiators connected to the riser 6 and having their outlets connected in turn to a downtake 8, which is co-nnected to the lower end of the heater.

In the parts so far described there is nothing new or unusual, and their arrangement is such as is well understood. A system containing only such parts, however, is impracticable because of the necessity for providing some expansion device. Up to a recent time it has been the common practice to place an expansion tank in the attic of the house or building. This is very undesirable because the attic is usually unheated, and expansion tanks quite frequently freeze and are thus entirely incapacitated for performingtheir intended functions, and as a result, when the system is heated up, something in the system breaks. It has recently been proposed to place the expansion tank in the basement close by the furnace where there is no possibility of its freezing, the connections being such as are shown inFig. 1, where the expansion tank is indicated by' 9; The exe pansion tank is normally filled with air, and as the water in the system expands under heat and its pressure rises, it can force its way into the expansion tank, which thus affords proper relief to thesystem. But in sucha system, which is entirely closed, an excessive pressure might occur which would Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1916.

serial No. 19,701.

produce very dangerous results. This excessive pressure might occur either from overheating, or by a slightleak in the expansion tank, which would let the air gradually escape therefrom. Some sort of a further vent is therefore necessary.

In those systems provided with a basement expansion tank which have recently come into use and to which I have just alluded, it has been the custom to supply the expansion tank with a mercury valve made under my Patent No. 838,394, and which is fully illustrated in Fig. 2. This mercury valve consists of an outer shell 10 to which the system pressure is admitted, a well 11, which normally contains a body of mercury upon which the system pressure is exerted, a bulb 12 out of communication.

with the interior of the shell 10, and a tube 13, through which the mercury column rises under the influence of the system pressure. As the system pressure increases, the mercury body in the well passes up through the tube 13 and iinally spreads out in a relatively thin sheet in the bulb 12, so that at a certain time the system pressure can vent itself through the mercury in the bulb 12. I preferably provide an extra tube 14: for the return of the mercury body, as set forth in my patent referred to. It will be evident that this valve operates as a relief device, and permits the escape of Huid in the system through the mercury when the pressure rises, and the return of fluid through the mercury, under suflicient and a less amount of Vacuum in the system. The degree of excess pressure which is required to release the fluid in the system depends on the height of the tube 13. Thus, in connection with the system which I have stated has recently come into use, where the mercury relief valve -was placed in the basement adjacent to the expansion tank, the tube 13had to be of a length that a mercury column therein would balance the entire water column in the building, and whatever excessive column was desired for the usual purpose of promoting rapid circulation which is the usual function of the mercury valve. Then adapted for the usual use, these mercury valves have been made to sustain a pressure equal to ten feet of water, and therefore in these systems which I have described mercury relief valves have had to be of such dimensions as to balance the column of water to the top of the system, plus ten feet. That has required a different size of mercury valve for each job and has produced a very inconvenient and undesirable arrangement.

I have discovered that by the use of the arrangement shown in the drawings, I get all the advantages of having the expansion tank in the basement and am able to use a simple standard form of mercury relief valve, such as has heretofore been employed. In this arrangement, I place my mercury relief valve, which is generally indicated in Fig. 1 by the character 15, in the upper part of the system, where it is connected to the highest pipe therein. In Fig. 1 it is shown as directly connected with the top of the highest radiator. A vent-pipe 16 runs down from the mercury relief valve to a sewer or drain, for an obvious purpose.

I have thus separated the relief valve entirely from the expansion tank, placing the expansion tank in the basement in close proximity to the furnace and the relief valve on the upper part of the system where it is not exposed or in any manneraifected by the column of water in the system, but has only to take care of that excess pressure ,which it is desired to employ for the sake of securing rapid circulation. This arrangement can therefore be employed with a single standard form of mercury relief valve which will'fit all systems.

In the form shown in Fig. 3, I employ the overhead feed system. In this form of construction, the heater 4l is directly connected to the riser 6, at the upper end of which is the distribution 5. The downtake S supplies radiators 7', the arrangement being that which is commonly employed with the overhead feed system. 9 is the expansion tank which is connected, in this instance, with the riser 6, and accomplishes the same results as does the expansion tank 9 of the form shown in Fig. 1. In this system, however, the mercury relief valve 15 is placed on the overhead feed-pipe 5, the overflow pipe 16 running down therefrom as before. rI`he operation of this system is obvious from the foregoing description of the other form.

The arrangement as shown in both figures is peculiarly advantageous, because it secures all the advantages of the newly devised systems with the expansion tank in the basement and with the further advane tage of permitting the employment of a standard type of relief valve. Furthermore, in the arrangement shown, the relief valves are so placed as to relieve the system of any accumulated air each time they operate. This produces a system which it is peculiarly convenient to control and operate.

I realize that considerable variation is possible in the details of the construction herein shown, and I do not intend to limit myself thereto, except as pointed out in the following claims, in which it is my intention to claim all the novelty inherent in the device as broadly as is permitted by the state of the art.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A hot-water heating-system having, in combination, circulating pipes, a heater in the circuit of said pipes and in the lower part thereof, radiators connected with the pipes above the heater, a normally gas-lled expansion tank adjacent and connected tothe lower part Aof the system, and a relief device adjacent and connected to the upper part of the system, whereby said relief device is relieved from the variable pressures due to systems of different heights and adapted to permit the escape of fluid from the system under a predetermined increase above the normal system pressure and the return of fluid thereto under a less fall below the normal system pressure. y

2. A hot-water heating-system having, in combination, circulating pipes, a. heater in the circuit of said pipes and in the lower part thereof, radiators connected with the pipes above the heater, a normally gas-filled expansion tank adjacent and connected to the lower part of the system, and a relief device adjacent and connected to the upper part of the system, whereby said relief device is relieved from the variable pressures due to systems of different heights, said relief device consisting of a well connected to the interior of the system to receive its pressure, a bulb above the well, a tube dipping into the well and connecting the same with the bulb, and a single mercury body normally in the well and arranged to rise through the tube into the bulb with the increase of system pressure and to return to the well when the system pressure falls.V

3. A hot-water heating-system having, in combination, circulating pipes, a heater in the circuit of said pipes and in the lower part thereof, radiators connected with the pipes above the heater, a normally gas-filled expansion tank adjacent and connected to the lower part of the system, and a relief device adjacent and connected to the upper part of the system, whereby said relief device is relieved from the variable pressures due to systems of different heights and adapted to permit the escape o-f fluid from the system under a predetermined increase above the normal system pressure.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 3rd day of April, A. D. 1915.

LEIVIS W. EGGLESTON. In presence of two subscribing witnesses:

D. C. TI-roRsEN, O. C. Avisns.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner or Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

